Summer rain misses record

THE Sunshine Coast is on track to record one of the wettest summers on record.

Not that anyone is surprised.

What may be surprising is that the weeks of pounding rain that cut off major roads in some communities, including Kenilworth, were still not as heavy as records set 30 years ago.

Since the start of December almost 2000mm of rain has soaked parts of the Sunshine Coast.

One of the wettest patches has been Maleny, where the third wettest summer in almost 100 years has been recorded.

With no rain forecast before the end of the month, Maleny looks likely to finish summer with 1848.8mm of rain.

For the rest of the Sunshine Coast, where records only date back about 15 years, the wettest summer has been recorded.

At Maroochydore 1369.2mm of rain has fallen, more than three times the long-term average for the period.

This weekend will be dry on the Coast before more rain and a chance of thunderstorms next week.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a sunny day today and mostly bright tomorrow.

There is only a 5% chance of rain on Monday but by Tuesday storm clouds are predicted to form on the Coast, with an 80% chance of rain.

The possibility of showers will stick around until the end of next week.

Weatherzone meteorologist Anthony Duke said the La Nina weather pattern that brought the record wet summer to Queensland has started weakening.

He said weather patterns should return to normal by the middle of winter.

The wet weather that flooded Brisbane also fell short of the record wettest summer for the capital. Since December 1, 952.6mm of rain has fallen in Brisbane, less than during the summer of 1974 when 1098.9mm was recorded.